What Have We Learned About Productivity in the Last Two Decades?: A Review Article on New Developments in Productivity Analysis

What have we learned about productivity in the past two decades? In this article, Andrew Sharpe from the Centre for the Study of Living Standards reviews a recently published NBER volume entitled New Development in Productivity Analysis, edited by Charles R. Hulten, Edwin R. Dean, and Michael J. Harper. The volume includes 13 papers, many representing the frontier of productivity research. Key recent developments in productivity analysis, as evidenced by the volume, include the development of firm-level micro-data bases, the revival of the vintage capital or embodiment approach to productivity analysis, the enhancement of our understanding of international differences in service sector productivity levels through case studies undertaken by the McKinsey Global Institute, and the integration of natural resources and the environment into a total resource productivity framework.